Defining Quality

Generally speaking, teachers are considered highly qualified in Washington State if they can meet one of six qualifications, from holding an endorsement for K-8 or a degree in a core academic subject (English, reading, language arts, mathematics, science, foreign languages, civics, government, economics, geography, history or art); to passing the PRAXIS II; to being evaluated as satisfactory by a supervisor.

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Promoting Teacher Quality/Raising the Status of The Teaching Profession Research findings globally and locally confirm that teacher quality has a significant impact on student achievement. In November 2003 the Ministerial Council for Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) based out of Australasia, endorsed a National Framework for Professional Standards for teaching based on this research. Click here (PDF 27.5 KB) to read more.

Does Highly Qualified Mean High-Quality?
By Scott Emerick, Eric Hirsch, and Barnett Berry

While national attention has been riveted on the accountability provisions of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), few in the education community have focused on what matters most to ensure that all students make adequate yearly progress—a high-quality teacher. Visit ascd.org to learn more.

Washington was one of 42 states that have an established alternate-route program to recruit participants with at least a bachelor's degree into teaching. Ed Week also considered if states required participants in the alternate routes to demonstrate subject-matter knowledge before teaching through either coursework or a subject knowledge test but Washington does not require either.

Washington does have a basic skills test required of those entering the profession, as do 37 other states. At this time, Washington does not require a subject-knowledge assessment or pedagogy assessment.

Professional support and training were measured by programs such as ongoing professional development for all teachers, incentives to earn National Board Certification and mentoring programs for novice teachers. Washington does have written professional development standards and the state finances opportunities for professional development, however districts are not required by the state to set aside time for teachers. Washington does provide both licensure and financial incentives for National Board Certification.

Many factors were considered in the area of accountability for teacher quality including out-of-field teaching, school and district report cards and accountability for teacher education programs. Very few states have caps or bans on out-of-field teaching and emergency licensing. Washington's school and district report cards do not show the number of certified teachers, new teachers, teachers with emergency licenses, out-of-field teachers or 'highly-qualified' teachers. Teacher education programs in Washington are held accountable for the performance of graduates in an actual classroom setting and low-performing programs are identified.

Washington's efforts to assure teacher quality were graded C-. The actual narrative concerning teacher quality is as follows: "Washington state is doing little to ensure that its prospective teachers demonstrate competence in the subjects they plan to teach, and that shortcoming severely hurt its grade. The state only requires its teachers to pass a basic-skills test prior to certification. While some teacher-candidates may obtain subject-area endorsements by completing coursework requirements, others may do so by meeting competencies that do not require the equivalent of majors or minors in their subjects. ……. On the plus side, Washington requires every teacher in the classroom to complete a "professional-growth plan," including the development of a portfolio, to receive a more advanced teaching license. The state also has new professional-development standards and finances professional development for all districts. The state provides money for mentoring, but districts must apply to receive such funds….. The state's school and district report cards include little teacher-quality data, a deficiency that also brings the grade down. Washington does, however, identify low-performing teacher education institutions based in part on the performance of their graduates in a classroom setting."

What's required by federal law?

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) requires teachers of reading, mathematics and science in every school to be highly qualified by the end of the 2005-06 school year. To be highly qualified, a teacher must have a bachelor's degree, be certified and licensed by the state, and demonstrate competency in each core academic subject that he or she teaches. The law gives states the flexibility to define certification and competency.

The US Department of Education has an online toolkit for teachers that outlines the categories of NCLB and offers definitions of highly qualified teachers.

What's required in Washington?
Generally speaking, teachers are considered highly qualified in Washington if they can meet one of six qualifications, from holding an endorsement for K-8 or a degree in a core academic subject (English, reading, language arts, mathematics, science, foreign languages, civics, government, economics, geography, history or art); to passing the PRAXIS II; to being evaluated as satisfactory by a supervisor. Washington reports that 83 percent of the state's teachers were highly qualified in 2002-03, the baseline year.

Washington's definition of certification and competency can be found in two sources: www.k12.wa.us/ESEA/default.aspx (download the file and refer to pages 19-25);

Please Note: OSPI is in the process of updating it's definition of highly-qualified. Please check back in January for the revised information.

What's required in other states?
The Education Commission of the States (ECS) has a unique, interactive online database showing where each state stands in developing a "high objective uniform state standard of evaluation" or HOUSSE. This is a critical part of the No Child Left Behind Act. HOUSSE defines what criteria must be met in considering a teacher to be highly qualified. Within the optional HOUSSE, existing elementary, middle and secondary teachers can demonstrate their competence in core academic courses. For more information you can go to ECS's database: HOUSSE .

To look at a particular state's information, use this map: Single State HOUSSE Report.

The changes:

- extend the timeline for teachers in small rural areas who teach more than one subject

- as long as teachers in eligible districts are highly qualified in at least one subject, they will have three more years to prove their qualifications in other subject areas.

- streamline the procedure for how teachers demonstrate subject matter knowledge when using HOUSSE
(high objective uniform state standard of evaluation) as their qualifier

- broaden the requirements for science teachers by allowing states to use their own certification standards to determine subject-matter competency.

For more information, see the DoE website.

Fact sheet: http://www.ed.gov/nclb/methods/teachers/hqtflexibility.pdf

Press release: http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2004/03/03152004.html

Additionally, 31 states require special education teachers to student teach in a classroom with students with disabilities to qualify for an initial license, but Washington doesn't require this. Nationally, 12.2 percent of teachers are providing special education without being completely certified. Some states were near 60 percent whereas in WA the number is only 2.8 percent.

Washington is one of 20 states that provide an alternate-route program for special education teachers.

In the year 2000, 8.5% of Washington teachers had special education as their primary teaching assignment. Of Washington's 58,000 teachers, 87.7 percent teach students with an IEP while only 26.9 percent of those same teachers had eight or more hours of training in the past three years on how to teach special education students.